The Effects of Prolonged Storage on the Quality of Sachet Water Produced within the Paynesville Municipality of Liberia

Authors

  • R. S. Ngumbu  Department of Chemistry, University of Liberia
  • J. K. Jallah Jr.  Department of Compliance & Enforcement, Environmental Protection Agency, Liberia
  • F. P. Sumo  Department of Chemistry, University of Liberia
  • B. S. Dennis  Department of Biological Sciences, University of Liberia
  • M. F. Moore  Lux-in-Tenebris Scholars Program, University of Libe
  • J. B. Kiazolu  Department of Chemistry, University of Liberia
  • P. S. Humphrey  Department of Chemistry, University of Liberia

Keywords:

Paynesville Municipality, Prolonged Storage, APHA, NPHIL, Water Quality STANDARD, Total COLIFORM BACTERIA

Abstract

The current study underlines the effect of storage on the quality of some sachet water produced in the Paynesville Municipality of Liberia for a period of two months. Ten (10) different brands of sachet water were collected within approximately 24 hours of production and stored at ambient temperature. A portion of the samples was drawn from the stock samples on a weekly basis for further physico-chemical (pH, nitrate, phosphate and dissolved oxygen) and bacteriological (total coliform bacteria, faecal coliform, escherichia coli and faecal streptococci) analyses using APHA and WHO analytical techniques. pH values increased in all of the different brands of sachet water, up to week 6,with about 30% falling outside the Liberian Water Quality Standard limit and steadily decreased just before the end of the study. Dissolved oxygen and nitrate values decreased during the course of the analysis period while phosphate values increased in all the brands tested. The total aerobic heterotrophic bacterial count increased slowly in all brands of the collected sachet water to the undesirable limit after three weeks of storage and progressively decreased between weeks 6 and 8 of the analysis period. Total coliform bacteria were detected in 40% of the brands of sachet water analyzed within the first three weeks and gradually died off towards the end of the experiment. Faecal coliform, Escherichia coli, and faecal Streptococci remained undetected throughout the investigation period. Results of the experiment indicate that all of the brands of sachet water analyzed were in the WHO permissible limit for drinking when stored at ambient temperature within three weeks. However, continuous storage of sachet water outside this period can significantly affect the chemical quality of sachet water to a large extent that exceeds the permissible limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO), thus, leading to a level harmful to human health.

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International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology

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Published

2017-12-31

Issue

Volume 3, Issue 8, November-December-2017

Section

Research Articles

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How to Cite

[1]
R. S. Ngumbu, J. K. Jallah Jr., F. P. Sumo, B. S. Dennis, M. F. Moore, J. B. Kiazolu, P. S. Humphrey, " The Effects of Prolonged Storage on the Quality of Sachet Water Produced within the Paynesville Municipality of Liberia, International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology(IJSRST), Online ISSN : 2395-602X, Print ISSN : 2395-6011, Volume 3, Issue 8, pp.210-218, November-December-2017.